All-Star unpredictability

CONCORD, N.C. -- The crowd at Lowe's Motor Speedway for Saturday night's Nextel All-Star Challenge did not seem as large as in recent years, with many fans in the upper reaches of some grandstand areas cleverly disguised as empty seats.

Blame the soaring gas prices, if you will. Or maybe some fans just didn't believe the action would match the hype -- although this is the rare race where it often exceeds it, however heavy that hype might be laid on.

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By the end, though, there were well over a hundred thousand folks on their feet, cheering as eventual winner Kevin Harvick held off Jimmie Johnson, the guy whose car carries the same logo as the racetrack and has in recent years certainly acted like he owned the place (watch video).

That Harvick won made it more fun. Another win by Johnson, or by anyone from Hendrick Motorsports for that matter, would have undoubtedly brought waves of cheers from his legions of fans at LMS but might have turned off scores more watching at home who have grown tired of seeing Hendrick teams celebrate in Victory Lane at seemingly every Nextel Cup event these days.

The Hendrick haters just wanted to see something different (watch video).

After all, isn't that what NASCAR's all-star event has always been about? Offering something different? Something fun?

It certainly started out like old all-star times at the beginning Saturday night. But then it started to get ... well ... a little too predictable. Only the Harvick-Johnson duel, preceded by the brothers Busch crashing each other out of the event early in the final of four segments, prevented the Challenge itself from becoming a total yawnfest.

On the other hand, the fun started immediately after the green flag was dropped for The Nextel Open, where 32 drivers who hadn't previously qualified for The All-Star Challenge tried to race their way into the show.

And it is a Show, no question about it. From start to finish, it's a slick production designed to be fan-friendly and wreck-filled as the sport's biggest stars try to run down a piece of history (winners can forever more boast of it on their resumes) and the $1 million top prize.

Even renowned gospel singer Bebe Winans went over the top when he took nearly three minutes (two minutes, 51 seconds, to be exact) to sing the national anthem.

But no one was more anxious to get the festivities started than Juan Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Dodge that many, including LMS president and general manager Humpy Wheeler, had predicted would win the Nextel Open preliminary.

Instead, Montoya's impatience to get to the front was widely chastised when he caused himself and five others to call it a night less than one lap into the Open. In fact, the start-finish line was barely 300 yards behind him when he caused mayhem heading into the first turn of the first lap (watch video).

Busch brothers take each other out

Kurt and Kyle Busch had good cars at the All-Star Challenge until the two collided in the final segment preventing them from challenging for the win.

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"I don't know what happened there at the beginning," said Dave Blaney, driver of the No. 22 Toyota. "[Montoya] just drove straight into Turn 1 and never turned or lifted. I knew nothing good was going to come out of that."

At least Blaney escaped the incident unscathed. David Gilliland, driver of the No. 38 Ford, wasn't so fortunate. He was the first car tapped from the rear and taken out by Montoya.

"It was the first corner and he just got in the back of us and turned us," Gilliland said. "It's a shame. ... It was nothing we did as a team or nothing I did as a driver. It's just the way this sport is."

It's the way the sport is on All-Star night -- or at least it's usually the way on All-Star night. Gilliland caught himself and recognized that a moment later.

"There are so many things that happen that are out of your control," Gilliland said. "Juan just got in there a little too hard, I think, and caused a big accident. I've never been in these kinds of races before and I guess that's just maybe the way it is."

Jon Wood, driver of the No. 21 who had his night ended early by the mishap as well, added: "I would say the first corner of the first lap was maybe a little early -- but the fans boo Juan for a reason and a prime example of [why] that [is] was tonight."

Asked what he saw from his vantage point, Wood continued not to mince words.

"I saw Juan making it three-wide and wrecking on his own. On the initial start, everybody is so close together that you just can't do that," Wood said.

And all that transpired even before the main event even commenced. There was some great racing at the end of the Open, when eventual winner Martin Truex Jr. went high and runner-up Johnny Sauter went low to pass pole-sitter and race favorite Carl Edwards down the stretch, guaranteed Truex and Sauter spots in the Challenge (watch video).

Montoya only guaranteed making his life even more difficult the next time he gets back on the track with these guys.

Meanwhile, there were still four 20-lap segments to be run to determine the $1 million winner of the Challenge. Remarkably, the first two went off without a single incident. And you know what? Neither segment was as interesting as when Montoya overplayed his hand going into the first turn of the first lap of the Open.

The sense of desperation that fueled Montoya's impatience did not reach the Challenge drivers and their crews until the fourth and final segment. There was only one caution flag prior to brothers Kurt and Kyle Busch tangling (watch video), that coming when Bobby Labonte's No. 43 Dodge slapped the wall in a one-car accident in the third segment.

The early racing in the Challenge was clean and all too friendly -- and dare we say not very All-Star-like and more than a little boring.

The Busch brothers spiced it up in a hurry when they got together (it might be a while now until they get together for that next family barbecue), and Harvick's finish brought the crowd to their feet. Those and the Montoya mishap are the moments that people will remember from this All-Star night, or at least so NASCAR hopes.

Too much of the rest was startlingly forgettable.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.